No need to explore further, you are missing the equipment that allows you to ignite the torch by yourself without an external ignition source.
You pick up this piece of equipment in the Cliffside village area right before you return to the Mountain Village after the next section of the game, you will be able to return and get the precious resources then.
From what I observed, this status resets when the region changes somehow. Like when the plane crashes. Before that event, I hunted out this region. I came back several times, even waited a long time, finishing side quests and stuff, but the status never changed. And then the plane crashes and I can hunt normaly there again. Same thing happened on the beach near the end.
Best Answer
I got the penetrating arrows. I haven't been able to use it agains soft issue enemies, but it seems they do not do any more damage to armored enemies than regular arrows do.